What Would Lyle Say About the Rob Bell Stir?

I imagine a lively discussion with Lyle over Rob Bell’s new book, Love Wins. There is little doubt we would chat about the implications of Rob’s recent round of interviews as we awaited the arrival of the book from Amazon. Like everyone else we would consider his statements and how they comported with Scripture and what we know of Jesus.

But, we would also be listening to the interrogators. Yes, I think Lyle would get that nuance. Everyone is a Twitter over Bashir’s recent interview going so far to say he knows the Gospel better than Bell.

A journalist friend gave me a couple of his thoughts. First, he asked if anyone is questioning Bashir the way Bashir is questioning Bell. He went on to tell me of Bashir’s Michael Jackson documentary and some background to an interesting fiasco. Second, my friend also teaches logic on occasion, he noted that Bashir delivered in logic what is referred to as a “false dilemma.” Had Bell been a bit quicker he might have fared better when stared down with “which is it?” So, what does this have to do with Lyle’s blog. In a post in April of ’05, Lyle wrote,

The conversation was good there were two sides to the issue and both sides were given time to voice their concerns. Good dialogue. But the disturbing thing to me is the trend in our society to 1)blame others for situations that don’t turn our like we hoped and 2) to respond hatefully to those whom we imagine or believe to “disrespect” us or our loved ones.

In our Mrs. Trunchbull culture where “I’m right, you’re wrong, I’m big, you’re small,” it is perfectly acceptable to “go after” anyone whom we think has “dis’d” us as Lyle points out. And, in Christian circles that is no less true when we become rabid to defend God. The problem is that God does not need out defense and that most often our defense betrays his character.

Lyle does not suggest issues are not important and that they should not be discussed. He pointedly notes that the manner we discuss what we do is as important as what we discuss. Maybe in the ensuing conversations about Rob Bell’s book, the manner in which we speak will demonstrate that love does indeed win.

Here is Lyle’s post,

TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2005

Where are our values?

I was a party to a “conversation” last night that in many ways disturbed me more than I had expected.

The conversation was good there were two sides to the issue and both sides were given time to voice their concerns. Good dialogue. But the disturbing thing to me is the trend in our society to 1) blame others for situations that don’t turn out like we had hoped and 2) to respond hatefully to those whom we imagine or believe to “disrespect” us or our loved ones.

“You ‘dissin me”? Is a refrain heard often today. Our culture seems to be breeding a generation of people who feel that being slighted requires a swift verbal or physical retaliation, no matter the cost. Sometimes the infraction seems so trivial.

My concern about myself being ‘dissed, seems to me to be the antithesis of the Golden Rule or Royal Law or the basic premise of Christian living. Of course many in society are not Christians, but some claim to be that do not have any problem giving someone the business who ‘disses them.

This is by no means a thorough handling of the subject and should be looked at in depth. Selfishness is definitely the root cause, like so many other problems in our world today. I guess that is why the Bible gave us the Golden Rule, the Royal Law, the parables of the Good Samaritan, and Jesus other statements on treating our neighbor, to combat our natural desire for “self”.

POSTED BY LYLE AT 1:28 PM

 

About the Author
Husband to Patty. Daddy to Kimberly and Tommie. Grandpa Doc to Cohen, Max, Fox, and Marlee. Pastor to Snow Hill Baptist Church. Graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Reading. Photography. Golf. Colorado. Jeeping. Friend. The views and opinions expressed here are my own and should not be construed as representing the corporate views of the church I pastor.

1 comment on “What Would Lyle Say About the Rob Bell Stir?

  1. Roger Sharp says:

    Nice post. I thought of two other posts that have similar thoughts:

    Brett Kunkle of Stand To Reason Ministries posted this on the Euthryphro Dilemma (speaking of logic): http://www.thepointradio.org/point-blog/entry/37/16621

    Mary Jo Sharp posted a blog on Rob Bell and included a short bit about how we interact with each other as believers (thought the post is not about that issue): http://confidentchristianity.blogspot.com/2011/03/question-for-rob-bell-whose-god-rose.html

    Roger

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